The United States and Israel have condemned French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called France’s move a “slap in the face to the victims of the October 7 attack.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the recognition of a Palestinian state “rewards terror” and poses an existential threat to Israel.

France–the most powerful European nation to announce such a move– is among 142 countries that now recognise or plan to recognise Palestinian statehood. The move comes amid International concern over the intensifying plight of the more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military’s actions have triggered a dire humanitarian crisis and warnings of mass starvation.

Israel has rejected accusations it is responsible for Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls “man-made” and France blames on an Israeli “blockade”.

Opposing Macron’s move, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a “reckless decision (that) only serves Hamas propaganda”.

“The United States strongly rejects @EmmanuelMacron’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state at the @UN general assembly. This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th,” he wrote on X, alluding to the Islamist group’s attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.